Knowledge and Beauty

“Beatrix Potter - Drawn to Nature”

The Morgan Library & Museum

Personal Photo (3/24)

Ste. Elizabeth of Schönau

The Morgan Library & Museum

Personal Photo (3/24)

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

There was a time when the search for knowledge and beauty were not separated by the silos of our modern world.  I have seen science and the arts as different domains distinguished by the answering different kinds of questions.  

“Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together to see what they mean.”  Jonathan Sacks

Paul Tyson’s book A Christian Theology of Science: Reimagining a Theological Vision of Natural Knowledge, makes the argument for theological integration of a theological understanding of the world.  He sees science through the lens of theology.  This countercultural vision has been and is a challenge to my medical world.

Upon finishing the book, I had the opportunity to see how this integration might exist even today.  The Morgan Library & Museum puts the integration of knowledge of the world with its beauty,  It is a wonder filled experience that is a display to the world how ancient theological perspectives have found their way into the beauty that they inspire.  

The good news is that there are continuing opportunities for “wonder” and “reflection” in this fragmented world of knowledge.  

Marvin

References

Sacks, Jonathan. The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (p. 2). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Tyson, P. (2022). A Christian Theology of Science: Reimagining a Theological Vision of Natural Knowledge. Baker Books.

Hage, M. L. (2014). Healing Purpose.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/06/healing-purpose.html

Hage, M. L. (2014). A Theology of Healing.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-theology-of-healing.html

The Morgan Library &  Museum

https://www.themorgan.org/

How Should We Remember?

9/11 Memorial 

Personal Photo - 3/22/24

 How Should We Remember?”

9/11 Museum 

Personal Photo - 3/22/24

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant

—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV)

The trip to New York City was planned as a birthday celebration.  It so happened it was just before Holy Week and the ending of Lent.  The weekend was filled with plays, good food and museums. 

At the end of the visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum there is the haunting question of “How should we remember?” displayed for all to see.  Sadly, on that same day in another part of the world a repetition of terrorism was repeated.  The justification for both events and many in between has been religious.  

The haunting question of the weekend was what is the value of remembering?  What  are the purposes of “religious remembering”?  Will it only lead to more violence or provide another vision for the living?  At our best we would like to believe the latter! 

For Christians, “remembering” happens this week with remembering the new agenda, a new mission of ministry!  It’s the answering to suffering in the world.   It is what gives us hope and towards a path of Peace.

Have a Blessed Holy Week, 

Shalom

Marvin

References

Lischer, R. (2005). The end of words: The language of reconciliation in a culture of violence. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Healing and Violence.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/12/healing-and-violence.html

Sacks, J. (2015). Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence. Schocken.

Hage, M. L. (2016). Healing Hate.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2016/06/healing-hate.html

Boyle, G. (2021). The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. Simon and Schuster.

Lenten Courage

“The Church is only the Church when it exists for others”.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

My small men’s group just finished an introduction to the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and we are about to begin a Lenten Series on “Courage”.  My question is how do we translate the courage of Bonhoeffer into a contemporary faithful courage?  What does this courage look like?  Is it a kind of resistance or a definitive act of bravery?  How does our faith inform this courage?

Ash Wednesday begins with the words of remembrance that death is universal.  It is not a very attractive beginning that comes in the middle of our weekly rhythms.  Receiving the ashes is a visual reminder of our finitude.  The following weeks take us further into reflections of how we are to live into that reality.  That is courageous!

The courage I have witnessed is sometimes dramatic but most often is a kind of resilience informed by faith.  It s a strong, slow response to the reality of suffering and loss.  It is a steadfastness that comes with practice.  The best and most important part is that we do it with others.  We are at our best when we are present in the suffering of others and not alone in our own suffering.  

Thanks be to God for the healing season of Lent and faithful courageous witnesses,

Marvin

Reference

The Pilot - Southern Pines, N.C.  “Churches Relaunch Initiative” and “”Blessed Be the Ties that Bind: Rebuilding Our Community” 2/7/2023

Reverence

“There was a certain wholeness about the experience, 

a quietude, a reflection on corporeal finitude and its attendant spiritual preparation, 

a reverence for the mystery that is life and death.”

L.S. Dugdale

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

Exodus 20:8 (NIV)

I was drawn to my latest read,  L. S. Dugdale’s book. “The Lost Art of Dying”, by an older book with a similar title.  Her physician account of the current state of medicalized dying in America is a very accurate report of a reality that is hidden from public view but is all too obvious to those who work within the walls of the “healthcare industry”.  What is wonderful about this book is that it makes “visible” realities of dying that are seen with wonder, awe and reverence.  

The main characteristic of reverence is a kind of “reflexive stillness”  that we have all experienced.   It is a deeply beautiful moment in time and sometimes even a season of our lives.  For many of us, we experienced this stillness during the recent Covid pandemic.  We slowed down.  We saw bluer skies and we breathed cleaner air.  It was a sabbath season.

Dr, Dugdale makes a powerful case for rediscovering this reverence as we live with and the reality of our finitude.  She emphasizes that cultural and religious practices help us live into this mystery that awaits us all.

Thanks for Dr. Dugdale’s healing work of words and art.

Marvin 

Postscript:  Dr. Dugdale’s presentation at the 2024 Calvin University January Series will occur on 1/23/24.

References

Dugdale, L.S.. The Lost Art of Dying (pp. 131-132). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Verhey, A. (2011). The Christian Art of Dying: Learning from Jesus. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing - Other Views.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/08/healing-other-views.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). The Awe of Healing

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/01/awe-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2016). Healing Hospitals.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2016/11/healing-hospitals.html